Darth-Baiter

the Bait Monkey and it's evil cousins: Reel Monkey, Rod Monkey, and (second cousin - twice removed) pocket knife monkey has a parade of boxes being placed on my front porch. luckily, I live in a decent neighborhood virtually surrounded by retired elderly people with recliners next to their front windows. you dont get much past them. I have yet to have anything porch-pirated off my front deck. despite that, I track packages like NORAD Tracks incoming missile strikes. I even stay and work from home on the very important days. I have high-fived the delivery guy before on really cool packages. as I drive around I see packages laid out with careless abandon. just for all the world to see. too much temptation I imagine. I also have some tiny brick wall that blocks most of my boxes from prying eyes. plus HANK is my dog. he goes ballistic on anyone standing at the door. good boy!! you lose anything?

Looking for spare box cutter blades, digging thru top compartment of my toolbox. AKA: the junk drawer. I found paint pens. Figured WTH. Seems fairly robust. I’ll try it tomorrow. I have a Sharpie on board for touch up.

not so much fishing stuff. but Apple products, yea. rods. I do have Megabass dreams, but only a Dobyns budget.

the Zillion is $200 or less?

there is on red light on my way to Clearlake. at 2:30 in the morning the sensor in the roadway must be not functioning. i can sit at that red light all by my lonesome for 10 minutes. last time the CHP next to me got tired of waiting and waved me thru..then blasted by himself. it was unnatural feeling just going on RED like that. the coincidence of me getting skunked that day is not lost on me.

yes. my sucky deal is i end up with lots of similar rigs. not smart.

i like mine in the winter time. at sleepy;0'clock, i've grabbed my BFS thinking it was my heavier Phenix Feather set up. get to the lake and notice i brought the light rig, hoping to throw heavier baits. duh!! i need to put red tape on the BFS. they are a mirror image of each other at Zero dark thirty.

Lena is a good youtuber. in a standoff situation, i would be relegated to simply keeping magazines loaded for her. breaking into a Miculek home would be a bad decision.

i tried it with my Phenix Feather 7'1' LIGHT and Curado BFS. it worked fine. the baitkeeper tab is very much in the wrong place for me and dropshot. i do fish a 3/16 weight most times. 1/16 would required me to whip it more i think. i would make a mess.

they spray Roundup in the CA Delta. very effective on the huge weed mats. i am not eating a bass from the Delta. i like my face with only TWO EYES. hahahha

Some people enjoy eating a largemouth bass sometimes. i get it. enjoy!! i wont crap on a person if they are looking for a meal. way to hypocritical with me eating the occasional steak, or Halibut. again..enjoy. there is a perfectly good reason why there is a limit on bass. which i dont even know, since i think a largemouth bass is NOT delicious, and the ones i fish in are in bodies of water i wont eat from anyways.

bad comparision. better would be to compare it to trapping. trap a fur bearing animal, weigh it and let it go. . hahah..

as i aged..i have quit bagging on myself. i think i scored with my wife. and i think she scored.\ i dont diminish my worth anymore. you can't expect anyone to enjoy your company if you cant enjoy your own company first. take it at face value and dont put the young lady up on any pedestal.. but nice humble brag, bro.

that sucks. i was sad to see "sewer" used as a euphamism. i'd rather live next to an actual sewer. San Fransisco has been getting lots of bad press, and it is official my neighboring "sewer". but at least it isnt a murder capital! that is scary. i have dinner reservations for my wife's birthday in SF. i am taking an Uber or rolling in my beater truck. no way i take my wifes nice car. no way.

hmmm..looks like mine. mine might be slightly less scuffed.

i punted and took a black paint marker i had in a tool box and coated a chatter-blade (and most of my knuckles). i pitch the lure into a lake and see what happens.

oh man!! thanks for taking the time to type that out. will google that lodge later!! what time of year did you go?

if I learned anything. nothing ever stays the same. I can crush them one day, and the very next day they are gone. i have had very few back to back repeat performances. some, but not many. this is very true on the CA Delta. you can't trust any situation.

I'm gonna go. headed to Taipei in March if all plans/stars align. wife and I will do a side trip to Japan. we initially thought about visiting Tokyo again, but we want to explore more. to be honest, it would take 10 trips to fully enjoy Tokyo. I googled it. I can hire a guide at Biwa!! bonafide bass boat and everything. not to bad costwise. not for a once in lifetime trip. I'd be happy with any bass. I promise to learn how to say, "now that's what I am talking about!" in Japanese. just kidding..being sarcastic. "let's go!"...sorry, more sarcasm.

personally, I am happy we moved forward from some of the vintage gear you all are depicting. I love progress!!! I watched a friend hook a very big bass and he inadvertently punched the spool release. total meltdown birds-nest. mid fight. the situation was unpleasant and I learned some new cuss words.

I use a Okuma SST travel-spin ($45?). a three piece. I wanted it to backpack with after Sierra Nevada trout. those fish get big and strong and that tiny rod handled them with style. I took it to Peru, and the local fisherman told me to put it back on the boat. everything would break it. turned out it was fantastic to fish for bait. I was catching 1 foot long Pictus Catfish to use as bait. for those that care, a Pictus cat is a very popular aquarium fish. I had one. my reel is either the size 50 Plueguer, or a 1000 Shimano..

I try. I try to keep my kayak as scratch free as possible. my last trip was bad. I drifted across shallow water sideways. the wind blew me onto a rock shelf while I was working on a knot. when I got home, there was some plastic confetti hanging from my boat. wow. some deeper gouges for sure. I think its a futile dream to try to keep things pristine. I tape the keel and replace as needed. but that is about all I can do. you even worry about it? I think I am going to get over it. I won't drag it onto a rocky concrete ramp, but I won't wipe it with a silk diaper either. it is what it is.

my friend gets well water. he has a filter system, but when he washes his glass lenses, he spritzes everything down with distilled water and then lets it air-dry. not sure I have the fortitude for one more step

WOW!!! love it. I wish I had them around me. but NOPE. I'm gonna road trip to Minn to visit a friend. I am dragging my HOBIE cross country. next summer hopefully

I have enough rods just wanted to comment that your trip sounded AWESOME. I'm going to AK one day. with or without my wife. her call. (hopefully with)